"Slave, you obey!" the female officer responded, and was about to exit the door to deliver the order when she heard the queen's voice: "You can also tell him exactly what I just said, and I think you can get a lot of benefits in exchange!"
The female officer felt a thunderclap in her head, and before she could react, she instinctively knelt down, paused, and screamed "death penalty". Mrs. Wu sneered when the female official knelt down and her head was covered with blood, then she smiled and said: "Get up! Go and wipe your face. It's so pitiful for a pretty person to be like this!"
The female officer didn't dare to say anything. She just bowed her head and said, then walked out of the door, then turned around and left. Wu returned to the dressing table and waited for the maid to change his clothes.
Daxing Palace, Ganlu Palace.
The Daxing Palace, first built in the Sui Dynasty, was built in strict accordance with the ancient palace system recorded in the "Kaogong Ji" in the "Zhou Rites" discovered in the Han Dynasty. Generally speaking, the Daxing Palace was built around a central axis facing north and south. Daxing Palace is roughly divided into three parts from south to north: the court area, the sleeping area, and the gardens. As the name suggests, these three areas are where the emperor handles court affairs, lives with his concubines, and goes on hunting tours. . The Manna Palace is located in the sleeping area. Theoretically, ministers cannot enter this area.
However, the situation of Ganlu Hall was quite special. Although it was located in the sleeping area, the emperor often reviewed memorials here and summoned his trusted ministers. Due to Li Zhi's poor health, Empress Wu could not handle the affairs of the government without it, so he summoned minister Shi Wu. Shi was also present. As time went by, Wu also summoned her trusted ministers here, but there was a bead curtain between her and the ministers during the summons.
As an internal official, this was not the first time that Liu Yuanzhen was summoned by the Queen, but what was different from the past was that this time his heartbeat was surprisingly fast because he was about to enter the most dangerous area of the Tang Dynasty's power struggle. It is the inheritance of imperial power.
From an outsider's perspective, after the emperor announced the Lantern Festival polo match, the prince's situation was very good. This is why the dignitaries in Chang'an City rushed to place bets on the prince. Their optimism is not without reason. Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi had a total of eight sons in his life, among whom the first to fourth sons have been eliminated from this game of power because of their mother. The eldest of the remaining four sons is Prince Li Hong, and the remaining three are the future Prince Zhanghuai Li Xian, Tang Zhongzong Li Xian, and Tang Ruizong Li Dan. These three, like the prince, are all from the Wu family. son.
If it were any other emperor, the struggle for the throne of the crown prince would have ended very early. After all, Gaozong Li Zhi was only in his thirties. Even in ancient times, he could be said to be still young. Even if he died at fifty, the game of power would still have to be played. Twenty years, during which time the queen was changed, the prince was deposed, and anything could happen. Not to mention anything else, the three younger brothers behind Li Hong are all potential threats. Don't think that being born from the same mother can make brothers respectful. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Zhi all stepped on their brothers from the same mother. Ascend to the throne of God.
But Li Zhi's health was not good, and it was known to everyone that he suffered from wind disease. No one knew that he could live in such poor health until 683 AD, a full life of fifty-five years, which was more lively than him. Dad lived five more years. After all, there is really no precedent for letting his wife be his chief secretary, sharing government affairs and maintaining his own health. In the eyes of the people of Chang'an at that time, with the current physical condition of the emperor, it would be difficult for him to survive until the younger brothers behind him reached adulthood. In other words, Prince Li Hong had no rivals in inheriting the throne. , betting on him is definitely a sure win but not a loss.
But Liu Yuanzhen knew very well that things were not that simple. The prince actually had a competitor, and that was his mother, Queen Wu. This was originally a very strange thing, because according to the political tradition since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the queen becoming the empress dowager can be said to reach the sky in one step. After all, it is common for an emperor to depose a queen, but it is unheard of for an emperor to depose an empress dowager. From the perspective of filial piety, the empress dowager could even issue an edict to depose the unscrupulous emperor (Gong Gaogui and Marquis Haihun tearfully agreed). From a pure perspective of interests, the Wu family may be one of the biggest beneficiaries after Li Zhi's death and Li Hong's ascension to the throne.
But Empress Wu was probably the only one in the past five thousand years who would rather serve as the chief secretary to the emperor’s husband (for a long time during Li Zhi’s lifetime, Wu Zetian actually did the work of the Ming Dynasty’s ceremonial supervisor and eunuch, of course, due to the special circumstances of the couple) Due to the relationship and the high status of the empress, and the lack of other competitors to share power, Wu Zetian's actual power was far greater than that of her counterparts in the Ming Dynasty), and she was not willing to give her son the title of empress dowager. So since Li Zhi revealed that he wanted Li Hong to train his team and let him supervise the country as soon as possible to gain experience, Wu began to secretly think of ways to sabotage the polo match and prevent his son from seizing power from him.
As one of Wu's confidants, Liu Yuanzhen was given this task, which made him extremely frightened. In his opinion, the Wu family is completely crazy, and working for a madman to do dirty work is already bad. What's even worse is that in the long run, the world will belong to the prince sooner or later. No matter how big the conflict between the queen and the prince, it is the mother and son. Close relatives can always resolve it, so what should I do then? Liu Yuanzhen shuddered when he thought of this.
"Her Majesty the Queen has arrived!" The voice from outside interrupted Liu Yuanzhen's thoughts. He quickly lifted up the front of his robe and knelt down towards the bead curtain: "I have an audience with Your Majesty the Queen!"
There was a sound of clothes scraping and footsteps coming from behind the bead curtain, but no words were heard. Liu Yuanzhen did not dare to raise his head, so he could only hold his breath and wait carefully. About half a quarter of an hour later, Liu Yuanzhen heard a cold voice coming from behind the bead curtain: "You said it's important, it'd better be really important, otherwise -"
Liu Yuanzhen could feel the boredom hidden in his voice, which made him shudder. This showed that the queen's patience with him was running out. If he couldn't do something before then, he would be close to death.
"A guest came to Wei Chen's house. This person is very close to Jin Renshou!"
"Jin Renshou? Well, go on!"
Sensing the interest in the queen's voice, Liu Yuanzhen secretly rejoiced that she had come at the right time: "Wei Chen remembered that Jin Renshou was the tutor of the East Palace side of the Shangyuan Festival polo match, so he wanted to find out some information. But I heard the man say something If so, Wei Chen feels that your Majesty should be informed immediately!"
"explain!"
"There is a huge disparity in strength between the North Gate Imperial Army and the Sixth Army of the East Palace. The emperor knows it, and everyone in the world knows it, so this polo match is not about the final outcome, but about the talent of the East Palace and the prince's way of employing people. In other words, As long as Donggong Liusui can show his style and level in the game, and let the emperor and the people of the world see it, that will be enough. The final outcome of the game is actually not important at all!" Liu Yuanzhen carefully memorized this paragraph that he knew very well. The words were repeated: "That's what the man said!"
..23xstxt.
Lewen
